The Dallas Mavericks are hiring head coach of Fenerbahçe and former Suns head coach Igor Kokoskov as Jason Kidd's top assistant, as per Marc Stein. Maybe this is a good thing for Luka Doncic and the Mavs as a whole.
The Mavericks are nearing agreement to secure former Suns coach Igor Kokoskov, their top target, as an assistant to new coach Jason Kidd, league sources say.
Kokoskov coached @EuroLeague power Fenerbahce of Turkey last season after a stint in Sacramento as associate head coach.
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) July 18, 2021
One obvious reason for this hiring may be because of Mavs' superstar Luka Doncic. Kokoskov has a positive relationship with the Mavericks' cornerstone, as he was the head coach of Doncic's Slovenian national team that won the 2017 EuroBasket gold medal. Doncic notably made the All-Tournament team under Kokoskov during Slovenia’s gold medal run.
Having previously coached Luka will work wonders for the Mavericks because Igor certainly knows how to push Luka to the next level based on his experience.
Igor Kokoskov spent most of his coaching career as an assistant coach in the NBA from 2000-2018 before accepting a head coaching job from the Phoenix Suns in the 2018-2019 season. He became the first European to be a head coach of an NBA franchise. His reign was cut short as Phoenix parted ways with him after one season.
He went back to being an assistant coach for Luke Walton's Sacramento Kings before eventually going back to Europe to be the head coach of Turkish powerhouse Fenerbahce.
Kokoskov helped Fenerbahce reach the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Playoffs, where it lost to CSKA Moscow. Kokoskov had a 20-16 record in the EuroLeague and went 22-8 in the Turkish League regular season before his team got swept by newly-crowned EuroLeague champion Anadolu Efes Istanbul in the domestic finals.
The Mavericks bought him out of his contract from Fenerbahce to secure his services.
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